Fight fire with fire!
by blazingeyes
Summary: A new kid just joined the academy. His name's Masato and guess what his alice is! To be able to control fire! Uh-oh. How will Natsume take this? Looks like there's trouble brewing...Read to find out. R&R please! COMPLETE
1. THe new kid

**Me: Hi everyone! I'm starting a new story. Hope you enjoy it!**

**Mikan: What's the story about?**

**Natsume: You're gonna have to read it to find out. Obviously!**

**Hotaru: Well you couldn't expect an idiot to know that now could you?**

**Mikan: HEY! I'm not an idiot!**

**Ruka: Er…anyway. ­****blazingeyes does not own Gakuen alice or any of its characters.**

**Me: By the way, Everyone's thirteen in this story.**

'HOTARU!!' screamed an over excited Mikan as she ran over to hug her best friend.

'HOTARU!!' yelled an angry Ruka who came storming into the classroom holding some rather embarrassing pictures of himself and waving them in front of Hotaru's face.

'HOTARU!!' shouted an exhausted Yue who had obviously been running too fast.

Hotaru sweat dropped as all three of them collided and fell to the ground with a big crash.

They all started talking at the same time, none of them making any sense. Hotaru didn't even bother telling them to shut up since,

'SHUT UP!!' yelled Sumire from her seat. 'What the hell do you think you're all doing? Making so much noise…HEY! What're you laughing about?'

The three of them tried not to snigger but in vain. As Sumire spoke, whiskers and cat ears had unknowingly sprouted from her nose and head respectively. She somehow noticed this and turned beetroot red. Before she could say anything else, Hotaru turned to Yue and asked him, 'What were you saying?'

'HEY! We came here first!' yelled Mikan and Ruka simultaneously.

Hotaru considered them for a second before turning back to Yue.

'Mr. Narumi says we're having a new student today!' said Yue excitedly.

'A new student?' said Mikan and Ruka simultaneously.

'Is it a he or a she?' asked Hotaru.

'A boy I heard.' Said Yue.

'OOH! I wonder what his alice is!' said Mikan curiously.

Ruka gave Natsume a subtle, worried glance. _I wonder how he'll take it. Well, I suppose he did handle Mikan when she was new…so, how hard could it be? _thought Ruka.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

'Well class! Pay attention please. We're having a new student joining us today. Be nice to him okay?' said Mr. Narumi giving Sumire a sharp look as he said the last sentence.

Everyone waited with bated breath as the new kid walked in. He was tall and lean with raven black hair, somewhat similar to Natsume's. and he had piercing green eyes. Apart from that he looked friendly.

'Hello everyone. My name's Masato and I'll be joining the academy today.' he said with a little bow.

'Well come on and tell us your alice already!' said Sumire impatiently.

He seemed a little taken aback by Sumire's bluntness but nevertheless he smiled and replied,

'My alice, is to be able to control fire.'

There was a silence for a while. It took a little time for everyone to be able to digest this information. At one point, all of them turned and looked at Natsume, half-scared, half-curious.

Masato's words seemed to echo across the room for Natsume.

_My alice, is to be able to control fire…_

**Me: Haha! I left a little cliffie there.**

**Natsume:…**

**Me: What's the matter, cat got your tongue?**

**Everyone: (sweat drops)**

**Me: Heheh…bad joke. I know…**


	2. Settling in

**Me: O.O…I left quite a cliffie last time! I expect you're all dying to know what's gonna happen right?**

**Hotaru: Hurry up and get to the point! I can't wait to capture the look on Natsume's face on my camera…**

**Mikan: (sweat drops)**

'Y-you must have made some mistake. Cause…Natsume's the only one with a fire alice!' Sumire blurted out.

Everyone's gaze flicked between Sumire and Natsume like a tennis rally. Finally however, it was Masato who spoke up,

'Well then…that doesn't stop mefrom having a fire alice _too_ does it?'

For the first time in her life Sumire was speechless. Although to everyone's surprise, Mikan was the next one to open her mouth,

'Mr. Narumi?'

'Yes?'

'Are two people allowed to have the same or similar alices?'

'Well now, that depends…' said Mr. Narumi with a frown, 'You see Mikan, as we all know this is a very unusual thing which only happens mostly…'

'…in siblings.' Finished Natsume coldly.

'That's right.' Said Mr. Narumi with a smile, 'And I don't suppose Masato here is your sibling is he?'

'Of _course _not!' replied Natsume furiously. Everyone could see the anger clearly etched on his face. And when Natsume got angry, things weren't very pretty.

'Er…Mr. Narumi, where do I sit?' asked a rather nervous Masato.

'Oh! Right there…next to Mikan.' Said Mr. Narumi pointing towards the seat that was situated to the left o Mikan's.

She looked up rather warily as he settled down, as cool as a cucumber; not in the least bothered that a number of eyes were staring at him from behind.

_There's something weird about this kid…He's not normal. And he has the same alice as Natsume! That reminds me, I wonder what Natsume's gonna do to the poor kid. I hope he doesn't burn him up! _thought Mikan.

'All right class. Turn to page 132 and…'

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

'…and he didn't even notice! Hahaha!' Sumire had just been telling one of her friends a joke when the 'new kid' arrived.

'Hey!' he said cheerfully.

'Oh it's you…' said Sumire eyeing him distastefully. Anyone who irritated Natsume was labeled 'bad' in her eyes.

'Like I was saying, I won't be surprised if he increases my star class!'

Masato walked away from them knowing that they were pointedly ignoring him. He instead walked over to the cherry tree where Mikan and Hotaru were sitting. They sat up alert the moment he came up to them. Mikan scrutinized him suspiciously but stopped and smiled the moment Hotaru gave her a warning look. Hotaru was obviously up to something…

'May I sit down?' he asked politely.

'Sure!' said Mikan cheerfully.

'So…Masato was it?' said Hotaru casually, 'Not a very pleasant morning was it? And as they say, the first impression is always the best one.'

She looked at him carefully to see his reaction. He merely shrugged and replied,

'I'm used to it.'

'What do you mean?' Mikan piped up.

'I mean, I always used to be treated like dirt whichever school I went to. That is of course, _before _I discovered my alice.'

'What did you do when you were mistreated? Did you get angry?' asked Hotaru.

He hesitated for a fraction of a second before replying,

'Nah. I learnt to ignore them…'

'I see…' said Hotaru thoughtfully.

They were rudely interrupted by the bell. All three of them stood up.

'Well, we each gotta go to a different class so…good luck Masato!' said Mikan awkwardly as she clumsily stumbled off.

Hotaru turned around to go to the technical ability section but paused for a minute and said, so quietly that only Masato could hear it,

'Seeing as you're a dangerous ability type, you'll be needing it…'

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

'Hey Tsubasa!' said a very excited Mikan.

'Hey!' said Tsubasa with a smile. 'So wassup?'

'Guess what? We have a new kid in our class and _his _alice is controlling fire too!' said Mikan in a rush without stopping for breath.

'Whoa! Slow down there. You're telling me this new kid can control fire? Like Natsume?'

'Yup!'

'You don't seem very bothered…' He mumbled, 'Anyway, is he nice?'

'Well he seems friendly.'

'I see…'

'You know, you sounded just like Hotaru when you said that! Are you two hiding something from me?' asked Mikan suspiciously.

'Nothing new.'

'There's still something. And I'm gonna find out what it is!' said Mikan in a determined manner.

Tsubasa stared after her as she ran off, thinking _Oh there's a lot more to it than_

_you think…_

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

'Hey Hotaru!' yelled Mikan as she ran up to meet her friend.

'Yeah?'

'Are you hiding something from me?'

'Why do you say that?'

'Oh..just curious!'

Hotaru raised an eyebrow and stared at Mikan for a long time. This was enough to make her feel uncomfortable and blurt out,

'Ok, ok! I just thought... since Tsubasa said…the new kid…ARGH!'

'If you're not gonna talk properly then don't talk at all!'

'HEY!'

As they went on arguing, little did they know that they were being watched; by a rather familiar person…

**Me: I bet you can all guess who it is!**

**Mikan: Who?**

**Hotaru: Someone as dense as you won't be able to understand.**

**Mikan: Oh ok…WHAT??**

**Me: Late reaction…**


	3. Natsume's weakness

**Me: Everyone seems to be on Masato's side judging by the reviews they've given…**

**Masato: Really? At least the readers like me! YAY!**

**Me: Don't get your hopes up too much, I wouldn't recommend it…**

**Masato: And why should I listen to you?**

**Me: **_**Because **_**I'm the author of this story and you better show me some respect just like all the other characters! (Other characters are running around and paying no attention to blazingeyes)**

**Me: (sweat drops) Then again…**

Masato wiped his sweaty forehead and panted a little as he hurried to his next class.

_Things aren't turning out as easy as I thought they would…_

FLASHBACK:

_Masato looked around for the dangerous ability type's room and suddenly found himself face to face with Natsume. Natsume coldly glared at him and asked,_

'_Lost?'_

'_Umm…yeah kinda…'_

'_You're already in the dangerous ability type place.'_

_That cold glare again. It sent shivers down Masato's spine. _

'_Er…thanks.'_

_Suddenly a strange man stepped up and looked at Natsume mockingly. Suddenly, Natsume's face lost all expression and he put on a cat mask and rushed into the forest. Masato stared at the new man warily. _

'_Hello Masato. You have a fire alice I heard? Interesting. Very interesting…'_

_He continued to mutter to himself in this manner for a while. Then he smirked at Masato and said,_

'_Let's get to work now shall we?'_

END OF FLASHBACK

He wondered why that strange man who called himself Persona had made him do all those weird stuff with his alice. He picked up his pace a little which resulted in him bumping into someone. He looked down and saw that he had knocked Hotaru over. He stammered an apology and helped her up. She saw his sweaty body and questioned him about it. He blushed and replied,

'Er…the strange man called Persona told me not to tell anyone…'

'Persona?' Hotaru looked up sharply. 'He started it already?'

'Huh? What're you talking about?'

'N-nothing. Now get going, you were late weren't you?'

'Oh that's right! Bye Hotaru.'

As he ran past her, Hotaru remarked, so softly that only he could hear,

'You know, you're just like Natsume in some ways…'

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hotaru wandered over to the cherry tree where she saw Natsume and Ruka sitting together. Without asking, she just sat down next to them. Natsume didn't even bother to look up from his comic. Ruka gave her a warning look.

'Masato seems to be doing fine for his first day, don't you think Ruka?' she asked casually.

'I guess.'

'As good as Natsume would you say?'

'I'm…not sure.' Ruka faltered as he gave Natsume a hasty glance.

'Oh never mind. Here comes Mikan.' She said slyly causing Ruka to turn a little pink as he watched the bubbly little teenager run towards them and…trip on a rock.

'Hahahaha! Sorry bout that!' she laughed as she promptly got up again. She stared in a rather puzzled manner at Ruka's red face. She bent down and put a hand on his forehead (causing him to blush even more)

'Are you sick Ruka? Do you have a fever or something?' she sounded concerned.

'I-I'm fine!'

'If you say so!' she smiled happily and asked where Masato was. No one knew. Hotaru told Mikan about her meeting with Masato when he was hurrying to class.

'Class? It should be over by now don't you think?' Mikan looked more puzzled than usual.

'Mikan worry about your own buisness.' Natsume spoke for the first time.

Mikan colored slightly in anger and retorted back,

'What's _your _problem? It's none of your buisness whether it's my buisness or not!'

Hotaru and Ruka sweat dropped as they watched the heated argument. Suddenly Natsume told Mikan to shut up. He looked around cautiously and muttered something about hearing rustling noises.

'You're probably imagining things Nats-'

He covered her mouth before she could continue. He pushed her onto Ruka and dragged something out of the bushes at lightning speed.

The _thing _turned out to be Masato!

He looked around at all of them with big, scared eyes.

He stared at Hotaru who looked totally calm. Then at Ruka who was as red as a beetroot since Natsume had pushed Mikan onto him so violently, they ended up in an awkward position. She quickly jumped off and mumbled an apology.

Then he finally turned to Natsume and surprisingly, the fear disappeared from his eyes and was replaced by a condescending look. This threw Natsume off guard and this gave Masato enough time to wriggle out of Natsume's grasp.

'I-I'm sorry…' he quickly resumed his frightened act, 'I was just kinda lost…again.'

'Oh that's ok! I was like you too when I first came here!' said Mikan cheerfully.

'Really?' his eyes started shining hopefully.

'Where were you going anyway?' Hotaru asked suspiciously.

'Nowhere in particular…'

'Then how do you claim you were lost?'

'Er…'

'Leave it. Come on Ruka let's go.' Natsume turned abruptly.

'Wait! Natsume I…wanted to know,' Masato faltered, 'C-could you help me around the school sometimes? I tend to get lost a lot. I'm only asking you because you're the only one in my class I know…'

Natsume stopped for a minute and then coldly replied,

'No. I already have a partner.'

'Ruka?'

'No. Mikan.'

With these last words, he walked away with Ruka, leaving a rather stunned Masato behind. Mikan looked a little scared and clung to Hotaru's arm and asked her if they could leave. Hotaru just walked along with her after telling Masato a crisp 'bye'.

After checking that everyone was gone, Masato whistled softly to himself. He smirked and muttered to himself,

'I found out his weakness. It's the girl.'


	4. The truth revealed

Me: I'm doing a double update this time

**Me: I'm doing a double update this time! I'm updating this story as well as my Inuyasha story. Enjoy the new chapter and please review!**

**Natsume: (grumbles) Man I hate you authors…**

**Me: Nothing new. You hate your own life, why wouldn't you hate everyone else's?**

**Natsume: Do me a favor. SHUT UP!**

**Me: Sheesh! Talk about a temper… one more thing! This story will have **_**implied **_**MxN (Mikan x Natsume) **

Mikan tossed and turned in her bed that night, not able to sleep. She decided to get up and go for a little walk. She took a little flashlight along with her. She smiled and breathed the fresh air outside the academy. Being night time, it was very peaceful.

Mikan was just starting to get sleepy when she saw another person about her size walking towards the forest. She couldn't see who it was very clearly because there was no moon that night. But all the same, she followed them, her curiosity getting the better of her.

She tiptoed quietly, feeling glad that she was wearing her bedroom slippers. She quickly darted behind a tree whenever she suspected that the figure ahead was turning to look at her.

Just when she was starting to think that they were getting nowhere, the person in front of her stopped and let out a triumphant 'Yes!' Judging by their voice, the person sounded like a boy, Mikan concluded.

'You can come out now…miss Sakura.' He said quietly. Mikan let out a barely audible gasp.

'H-how did you…?'

'Let's call it instinct shall we?' he chuckled slightly as Mikan hesitantly stepped out of her hiding place.

'Masato?' she exclaimed in shock. 'What are _you _doing here?'

'I could ask you the same thing, but since you asked first…I suppose I'll answer you.'

Masato stepped closer to Mikan, not in the least bit nervous, like he was that morning.

Mikan didn't know why, but she felt that something was wrong.

Masato took a deep breath and quietly said,

'I came here…because I knew you would follow me. I wanted to show you something.'

'What?' Mikan's curiosity once again got the better of her.

'Watch this.' He lifted his hand and showed her…it was on fire! Hardly surprising seeing that he had a fire alice. But all the same, Mikan was a little taken aback at first. Not because of the fire, no; But because it strongly resembled someone else…someone with the same raven colored hair as Masato. She vaguely remembered something about only siblings having the same alice before she suddenly passed out on the spot.

Masato grinned to himself as he slung her limp form on his shoulder like a sack.

'So far, so good.'

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

'Class, I have an announcement to make. Mikan will not be joining us in class today as she is feeling ill. If anyone wishes to see her, they can go to room no. 36.' Mr. Narumi informed the class.

Hotaru sweat dropped and thought, _that idiot must have gone outside in the middle of the night and caught herself a cold._

'…also, Masato will not be coming to class today either due to personal reasons.'

The whole class went silent. Mikan getting sick was nothing new; she was always doing something stupid. But Masato…due to personal reasons? It somehow seemed very suspicious; Especially to Natsume.

After class, Ruka and Hotaru offered to go and visit Mikan. Ruka asked Natsume if he wanted to come along. Natsume said he had something else to do and slouched off.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Mikan was found fast asleep in a white bed in room 36. Ruka blushed a little as he thought how cute she looked when she was sleeping. Hotaru noticed this and smirked.

Mikan woke up after a while and seemed surprised to see her two friends there.

She smiled at both of them.

'Thank you Hotaru, Ruka.' Ruka blushed even more and tried to hide it but failed miserably. However the next words that came out of her mouth were,

'Where's Natsume?'

'He said he had something else to do.' Ruka filled her in.

'Oh…' she sounded a little disappointed. 'What about Masato?'

'No idea. He hasn't come to class today either due to "personal reasons"' Hotaru snorted.

There was silence for a while when Ruka suddenly said,

'Hey, you didn't think Natsume's gone after Masato do you?'

'That's not good…' Hotaru mumbled.

'Well? What are we waiting for! Let's go find him.' Mikan tore the blanket off and was prepared to start running in search of Natsume when Hotaru's cool voice stopped her,

'Two things. One: We have class now unlike you so we can't afford to come. Two: You have absolutely no idea where you're going and yet you're going to look for Natsume? If so, carry on, I'm not stopping you. But, remember one thing, whatever the circumstances…use your head.'

With these words, Hotaru and Ruka walked back to class, leaving only Mikan to go and search for Natsume.

She grimaced and thought, _fine. If you guys won't come…I'll find him by myself! I don't need help._

Suddenly her stomach grumbled. She grinned sheepishly.

_But I do need lunch…_

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Natsume frowned as he went prowling around the dangerous ability section, looking for Masato. He went quite a distance into the forest and suddenly heard laughter from behind him.

He turned around sharply and glared into Masato's green eyes. Masato was smiling quite pleasantly at him and asked,

'So, what brings you here…_brother?'_

**Me: (sobs) This story's coming to an end dear readers! But fear not, for I will write more stories in the glorious future!**

**Hotaru: (bonks blazing on the head) Shut up you big drama queen.**

**Me: OUCH! That hurt Hotaru! (grumbles)**

**Hotaru: Serves you right. **

**Me: Anyway…thanks to all you wonderful readers and reviewers! I'll be sure to give you all credits at the end of this story. Bye for now! **


	5. An encounter with Persona

**Me: This chapter is an additional chapter **_**before **_**the climax to explain some things. That's why it's really short.**

**Mikan: What…? I thought **_**this **_**was the climax! **

**Me: So did I! But then, I realized that the readers might get confused if I don't explain everything. So there'll just be two more chapters after this to complete the story. I hope you all enjoy. **

Mikan continued running until she suddenly bumped into someone and fell down. She looked up and gasped. It was Persona!

'What are you doing here?' she asked incredulously.

'That doesn't matter. What _does _matter, is that you are looking for Natsume and Masato right?'

'How did you kn-'

'QUIET! Now isn't the time for worthless questions. Listen carefully; Masato is out there to _kill _Natsume. You wouldn't want that to happen would you?'

'No! Of course not. But…I still don't understand; Masato seemed so nice and friendly…'

Persona sighed and sat down on the ground next to her.

'Look. I'm only gonna say this once so listen well. Masato only acted the way he did to gain your trust. Of course, you are so gullible that even a fool could fool you! And that's saying something…'

'PERSONA! Your point please?' Mikan said through gritted teeth.

'Yes, yes. As I was saying, didn't you ever wonder why Masato also had a fire alice?'

'Yeah I asked Mr. Narumi and he said only siblings could have the same alice…'

'True, true. _But, _there's a catch. Not _any _kind of siblings can have the same alice. Only **twins **can.'

'Huh? That means…' Mikan frowned as her brain tried to register this bit of information.

'No way!'

'Yes way.' Said Persona with a smirk. 'Masato and Natsume were born twins. You never asked Masato his last name did you? It's Hyuuga. Masato Hyuuga.'

'But…wouldn't Natsume know about his own twin brother?' Things were starting to sound really crazy now.

'Ah…so he should. But, they were separated at birth; each one not knowing the other's existence. They both suffered during childhood. But Masato suffered the most. After Natsume was sent to the academy, Masato was forced to use his alice to do bad things. At first he disliked it very much. Later, to give him some confidence, they told him that it was all his twin brother's fault and if he worked for them well enough, they would give him the liberty of killing Natsume with his own hands. So right now, Natsume's in grave danger. If you get there quick enough, you might be able to put your nullifying alice to some good use.'

Mikan was silent for a few minutes. All this information had been too overwhelming for her. Suddenly, she felt suspicious.

'How do _you _know all this Persona?'

'That is not necessary for _you _to know, Mikan.' He smirked. 'Anyway, I suggest you quit wasting your time and go help Natsume.'

'Answer me at least this then: Why do you care so much about Natsume? I thought you hated him.'

'Well it's true that the brat is pretty annoying…' Mikan glared at him when he said this, ' But…he proves very useful to me sometimes.'

Mikan was quivering in anger. So all this guy cared about was using Natsume to do his dirty work? Anyway, she didn't have any time to lose so she started running in the direction Persona had told her to go.

_Don't worry Natsume…I'm coming._

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	6. Sibling rivalry

**Me: The climax is here! DUN! DUN! DUN! DUN! Enjoy everyone! There will be just one more chapter after this and then the story will be over. **

**Mikan: Aww! It's gonna be over?**

**Me: Fraid so Mikan. Don't worry, I'll write more Gakuen alice stories!**

**Mikan: (Delighted) You will?**

**Natsume: (disgusted) You will?**

**Hotaru: (bored) You will?**

**Me: YES I WILL! NOW WILL YOU LET ME WRITE IN PEACE? Ahem. Pardon the interruption and let's get back to the climax! **

For a minute Natsume couldn't speak.

'What the _heck _are you talking about?'

Masato smiled pleasantly and said, 'There, there now. Don't get mad. I was merely stating the obvious…brother.'

'SHUT UP! I'm not your brother, you…you little…' Natsume's eyes flashed dangerously.

'Poor, poor Natsume.' Masato shook his head in mock sympathy, 'Can't even deal with the truth eh? Well they do say that the truth hurts…'

'It can only hurt if it _is _the truth!' Natsume spat.

'But it is!' Masato said in mild surprise. 'Really Natsume, I thought you were smarter.'

Natsume growled. 'Prove it.'

Masato smirked and made a ball of fire appear in his hands.

'We have the same alice. Did I mention that we are not just brothers but we're actually…_twins?'_

Natsume's mouth dropped open in shock. He hated to admit it but, Masato was right. There was just no other explanation for it. That ball of fire that danced in Masato's hand was just like the fire that was always found in Natsume's hands. In fact, it was so similar that it was almost suspicious. Masato's movements, the way he summoned the fire with such ease; was all too suspicious.

'What's the matter brother dear?' Masato sneered. 'Speechless?'

_I can't let this idiot get to me, whether he's a brother or not. I don't care. _Natsume thought angrily.

'Well, what do you want?' he asked gruffly.

Masato tossed the ball of fire from one hand to the other; almost _lazily. _He took his time to answer as though he wanted to choose his words carefully.

'I want…to kill you.' he said as though it were perfectly obvious.

'I see.' Natsume didn't seem surprised in the least. 'What else would _scum _like you want?'

Masato seemed slightly taken aback by Natsume's bluntness, but he pretended not to show it.

'So…that's all I am to you is it?'

'Yup. People like you are just scum. They don't deserve to live.'

Masato lost his cool and yelled, 'Say that to yourself! Why do you think I even want to kill you? Because you made my life HELL! That's what you did!'

Natsume stepped closer to him and conjured a fire ball of his own.

'Look. I just have three words for you. _I. Don't. Care.'_

Natsume grabbed Masato's hand – the one with the fire ball in it – and extinguished the fire with ease.

'Also, I don't plan on letting _anyone _kill me; whether they're brothers or sisters or friends. I said it once before and I'll say it once more: **I don't care**.'

Natsume emphasized the last three words. Masato paled a little but then chuckled softly. Natsume glared at him. _What the hell was he laughing about?_

'That's why…I found out your weakness.'

'Weakness? What weakness?'

'That girl…Mikan.'

'What about her?' Natsume didn't understand.

'Don't you get it you fool? _She's your weakness.' _

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Mikan was puffing and panting as she continued to run without a break. Meanwhile, Persona chuckled to himself.

'She fell right into the trap. And so did Natsume. Now it's just up to Masato to finish them both off. And I think I've trained him well enough…'

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

'I-I don't know what you're talking about.' Natsume mumbled.

'Yes you do. And I might as well tell you what I'm gonna do; it's not like you can do anything about it…'

Before Masato could open his mouth again…she arrived. Masato's smirk couldn't have been broader. Mikan rushed up to a bewildered Natsume and started yelling,

'Natsume! Masato's not a good guy! He's gonna _kill you!!' _

Natsume shot her a great-timing look and coldly replied,

'I know.'

'Then whatcha standing around for? Let's go call a teacher or some-'

Before she could finish her blabbering, he covered her mouth and said, 'Shut up.'

She nodded her head fearfully. He let go of her mouth and gave her a little push.

'Go. Get lost. This is between me and my…**twin**.' He said the word with hatred.

'No! I won't leave you here! What if he really kills you?' her eyes were wide with fear.

'Don't you trust me Mikan?' he asked more gently.

'Y-yes but…I'm worried.'

'Listen. Worrying is for idiots.'

'But… you always call me an idiot.' She sounded confused.

He chuckled softly, 'Maybe so, but there are bigger idiots than you.'

'Really?' she smiled hopefully.

'Yes. Now go!'

'I already told you…no!'

'Why not?' he was starting to sound frustrated now.

'Because…I'm here to help you.' She stood next to him firmly and refused to budge.

'Together, we can do this.'

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Masato watched all of this in disbelief. How could this girl like Natsume so much? After all, Natsume was an idiot. Natsume had ruined his life…or so he was told.

_How do I know that he _really _ruined my life? I mean, this is the first time I'm actually seeing him so…_ he shook his head and cursed himself for having so many doubts.

_No. It's him. He _is _the one I have to kill. No doubt about that. _

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Natsume stared at Mikan in disbelief. Then he sighed and shook his head,

'You really are impossible.'

'Is that a yes?' she asked joyfully.

'I suppose…but if you end up getting hurt or even killed, I'm not responsible.'

'I'll remember that.' She said with a laugh.

'Right. Now let's take this joker down…' Natsume grinned.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Masato noticed that Natsume was ready to make the first move. To his surprise he saw Mikan just standing there. He gasped and realized something; he hadn't found out what her alice was!

This was probably why he didn't understand why she was standing under a tree and watching Nastume instead of using her powers to help him.

Natsume ran up to him with a fire ball in his hand that kept getting bigger and bigger…

But Masato was ready for this. He grinned and charged towards Natsume with the same attack. However, this was hardly effective as both the attacks cancelled out each other.

They continued to fight like this for a while. They would talk a little in between.

'So…what exactly did I do to make your life hell?' Natsume asked as he dodged an attack.

'I thought you didn't care…'

'I don't. I just wanna know why it's so important to you to kill me.'

'I had to go on a lot of dangerous missions; more than you would _ever _have done. Each time, I nearly died. I had no one to look up to. No friends. No one helped me. I was left to struggle on my own. One day, I thought of killing myself! It was better than living through this torture. But they told me not to give up so soon. They said…' here a crazy smile spread over his face, '…if I was a good boy, they'd let me kill you: with my own hands. And now it's all gonna be worth it.'

Mikan sniffed a little. Masato did seem a little pathetic. Natsume looked unperturbed.

'Just supposing you _do _kill me – which you won't of course – what're you gonna do after that?'

Masato frowned as he considered this. 'I-I'll just live a normal life I suppose.' He sounded rather uncertain as he said it.

'You don't think the academy are gonna let you live after killing me do you?' Natsume pointed out.

'I won't stay here! Th-they'll take me back…'

'Who are these '**they' **you keep talking about?'

'They're an organization run by that man called Persona.'

Natsume gritted his teeth. _So Persona's behind all of this eh?_

Mikan gasped and stared at Natsume in horror. So this was all a trap!

Masato grinned and took this chance to jump forward and launch an unexpected attack on Natsume. Natsume was totally unprepared for this. He couldn't move.

He grimaced as he decided that these were gonna be his last moments on earth. He thought about all the things he had never done….all the things he had never said…

He closed his eyes and braced himself for the attack. It was too late to do anything now. Suddenly –

'NATSUME! LOOK OUT!'

There was a blinding white light and Natsume passed out.

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**Me: Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Please review it if you're done! **


	7. Happily ever after I guess

**Me: The last chapter is here! I hope you've all enjoyed the story so far!**

**Mikan: Are you gonna miss us?**

**Me: Maybe…**

**Mikan: (pouts) **_**Maybe?**_

**Me: Er…most probably…?**

**Mikan: (glares)**

**Me: (sighs) **_**Definitely**_**. Enough?**

**Mikan: I guess so! **

Mikan stared in shock as Natsume passed out. When Masato had rushed towards Natsume with the giant fireball, not wanting him to get hurt, Mikan had used her nullifying alice. Only, she had used it at her maximum power, causing Natsume to pass out.

She cast a weary glance at Masato who was still standing. Although he looked rather stunned as this was the first time he had seen her alice at work.

'You have a….a nullifying alice?' he asked her incredulously.

'Er…yeah.'

He was silent for a moment. Then he turned to her with a serious expression on his face.

'Why do you want to protect him so much? What is it to you if I kill him or not?'

Mikan smiled a little before replying.

'I don't want anyone killing anyone else; even if you _were _real enemies – which you aren't of course.'

'What do you mean?' he asked suspiciously.

'Oh come on, don't act like you don't know!' she snapped. Then her tone got softer, 'Masato, I know, and so do you, that Natsume didn't do anything to you. you've never met him before! How could you believe them? How could you believe Persona?'

'T-they took care of me but, they also made me train a lot for this day…' his voice shook a little and looked into her big brown eyes uncertainly.

'Masato…you're only talking like this because you two were separated at birth. If that hadn't happened your lives would have probably been better! But that doesn't mean you can't change now…' there was a hint of pleading in her voice.

'Why should I listen to you anyway?' he started sounding suspicious again, 'Who are you to tell me all this? How do I know that you aren't lying to me too?'

'So you admit that they were lying to you?' Mikan smirked.

'No! I mean yes…I mean no!' he looked very confused.

'Masato, think about it. Why should Natsume want to make _your _life hell? He's had enough of that in his own life already. And as cold-hearted as he might seem,' she smiled and her cheeks flushed ever so slightly, 'he's really a nice person.'

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Natsume woke up just in time to hear the last sentence. He blinked and stared at Masato and Mikan.

'Aren't I dead?'

They were both so taken aback by that childish question that they couldn't speak for a minute.

Then Masato burst out laughing,

'Nope. All thanks to your little nullifying friend over here!'

'So…' Natsume glanced at him suspiciously, 'I was just lying here, unconscious. Why didn't you kill me?'

Masato looked solemn again, 'Once again…thanks to Mikan.' He smiled at her – a real, genuine smile – and continued, 'I don't know if what I'm doing is right but, I don't want to kill you anymore.'

'Why the sudden change of heart?' Natsume asked coldly.

'Oh I dunno…does it bother you?'

'What bothers me is that Persona is still alive…' he growled.

'Wait! Does this mean that we can be friends? Or…' Masato's voice trailed off hopefully. Mikan beamed and looked at Natsume expectantly.

'I never said anything of the sort.' Masato's face fell. 'But…I could use some help to give Persona a piece of my mind…'

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**One week later…**

'Natsume! Natsume!' Masato took a deep breath and bellowed, 'NATSUME!!'

'What…?' Natsume turned around and gazed at his seething twin lazily.

'Aren't you forgetting someth-' he started, but never finished it since Mikan came running at full speed towards the cherry tree where everyone was standing and…crashed into the tree.

She giggled and stuck out her tongue. Everyone laughed, except Masato who still wasn't used to this daily ritual of Mikan's.

'…you were saying?' Natsume grinned.

'Er…nothing.' He mumbled.

Things had changed a LOT; for the better. Natsume wasn't as grumpy as he used to be and Masato was starting to get used to living in the alice academy. To top it all, Persona had been sacked. Before Natsume and Masato could even _start _venting their anger on him, some teachers had arrived and settled everything.

_And it's all thanks to Mikan…_thought Masato. _That weird girl…but I suppose that's what makes her so likeable._

He chuckled a little to himself. Everyone stared at him in surprise. He turned a little red and laughed nervously. Mikan laughed along with him. She turned around to hug Hotaru who punched Mikan with one of her latest contraptions.

'Hey look! Sakura flowers are falling! It's so pretty…' Mikan forgot about massaging the bump on her head for a minute as everyone admired the flower petals that fell from the tree.

_Well this is happily ever after… _thought Masato.

Mikan started running around the tree in sheer joy and…crashed into it again.

…_I guess… _and he laughed along with everyone else.

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**Me: I have finally finished this story! YAY! Thank you ALL you wonderful readers and reviewers. You have been a great help to me from the start…**

**Masato: What're you getting all sentimental for?**

**Me: YOU!  
**

**Masato: ME!**

**Me: …**

**Masato: ??**

**Me: Forget it…**


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